Twas a beautiful sunny Wednesday afternoon, as our motley crew rolled into the Fairholmes car park in drips and drabs after a hesitant start due to roadworks and closed access. Those who rocked up earlier managed to snag a Mr Whippy, and rubbed it into all the stragglers. After kitting up and convincing Louise that she didn’t need her winter coat, we started out… after having already ended up a man down as Kyle promised he would catch us up (spoiler alert - he didn’t).
Wandering around the banks of Derwent Dam, we stopped to learn about Tagg’s dead relatives, discovered that it was actually spring and Henry taught us how hard it is to get into a primary school. Scout played in the reservoir and then shared the love shaking all over the group to cool us off. With Leanne confidently leading the way (and Henry redirecting us from the back), we scrambled up the banking through a cloud of sheep and fell over a stye to get back on track.
Several hills, winding roads and kilometers later, we made it to Alport Castles - which turns out to be just a big rock and apart from a beautiful view, it was a bit of an anti-climax!
After the obligatory selfies, we strode off invigorated and ready for the descent, spurred on by a wild wee which was unfortunately witnessed by a group of walkers and the hope of the cafe still being open at the other end. Passing invisible tractors, woodworking sites and DofE groups, we sauntered down through the woods back to the starting point. The death of two watches meant that we didn’t actually know how far we walked in total, or how long it took us, so we rounded it up to 13km in about 3.15hours - pretty smooth sailing which should put us in good stead for the challenge of the Three Peaks. Spirits continued to be lifted as the toilets and the still open cafe came into view! Ice cream Sundaes all round, or doggy ice cream if you preferred!
Still with no word from Kyle, there was nothing left to be done apart from scope out the cars in the car park, looking for tell-tale signs of a Sheffield College parking badge, or a lone child seat in the back. After looking incredibly suspicious and freaking out several drivers we accepted defeat and headed back to the sunny climes of home, navigating the stupid road closures and receiving message from the missing participant that he was safe and sound, after sacking off the walk in favour of a recce around the dam.
All in all a great little adventure - 8/10, would hike again.
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